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- P. P. FLOURNOY, Pruning'lmplement.

No'. 230,539. Patented July 27,1880.

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N-PETEFS; FHOTO-UTHOGRAPNER. WQSNINQTON. D O.

UNITED STATEs PATENT FFICE.

PARKE P. FLOURNOY, OF BETHESDA, MARYLAND.

PRUNING IMPLEMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 230,539, dated July 2'7, 1880,

Application filed June 1, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PARKE P. FLOURNOY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bethesda, in the county of Montgomery and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pruning Implements; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention is a device by which my pruning implement, for which Letters Patent were granted me May 16, 1876, the number of which is 177,489, is better adapted for cutting limbs which have no firm support without impairing its usefulness in the kind of work for which it was originally designed.

The invention consists in the combination, with my patented device, of a plate adapted to act as a support for the pivot of the chisel, so as to keep it in the upper end of the slot in the hook, said plate being provided with a stud, forminga support for a spring which engages with the pivot and acts to retract the chisel after the operation of cutting, and with a button which holds it in the slot and acts as a stop for the chisel in both directions.

My invention consists, also, in the peculiar construction of the pivot of the chisel, as specifically pointed out in the claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of the entire device. Fig. 2 is a front view, partly sectional. Fig. 3 is'a'back view of entire device. Fig. 4 shows end of screw J in detail; and Fig. 5 shows plate 0 detached.

Similarletters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

In Fig. 1, A is a screw, by which the hook is firmly held upright in the direction of the handle B. The screw used is the same one which holds the end of the chisel to the head. This screw is taken out, reversed, and screwed through the hole in the shaft of the hook'into the head.

O is a plate fitting into the slot D, and hav= (Modcl.)

ing a semicircular bearing in the upper end, E, so as to form, with the end of the slot, a hole or bearing in which the pivot of the chisel shall fit. 0n the back side of this plate 'is a button, F, of the width of the slot in one direction and wider in the other, by turning which, after the plate is placed in the slot, it is held firmly in its place. On the lower end of this plate is a stud, G, through which the spring H passes. This spring is so bent at the end I that it cannot be withdrawn from the hole, but can be moved backward and forward in it. This arrangement is designed to facilitate the adjusting of the plate in the slot.

The spiral spring H is intended to actuate the chisel, so that when it closes with the hook in the process of cutting it may be thrown back again. The spring is adjusted for this purpose as follows: 7

The pivot J, which forms the axis of the chisel, is square where it passes through the chisel, so that 'theywill turn together, round where it passes through the hook N, and beyond this point it is threaded and furnished with a nut to attach the chisel securely to the hook. In the end of this screw there is a slot, into which the internal end of the spiral spring fits, and there are at the bottom of this slot depressions K and K, in diagonally-opposite sides, so that the spring, when once adjusted, is held firmly in its place by its continual pressure, which will keep it in these depressions. The external end of the spiral spring passes through the hole in the stud G,

as already described, which gives the necessary tension to the spring. The changes in the shape of the chisel-blade and in the hook are indicated in the drawings. The blade is blunt at the side where it meets the end of the hook, and is slightly beveled, so as easily to slide upon the end of the hook. The hook is (lull on the inside all the way round, so that the chisel-blade alone will cut, and the end of the hook is slightly beveled where it meets the blunt part of the chisel-blade. This arrangement is designed to prevent the sharp part of the blade from impinging on the hook and being dulled or broken.

The implement having been adjusted to adapt it to the work of cutting off limbs which have no firm supportthat is, the hook having been made fast in the head by the screw, the plate having been placed in the slot with the spring adjusted, as described-is used by put ting a cord in the hole M in the end of the chisel, by pulling which the chisel is closed upon the hook, the two forming a shear by which the limbs are severed.

I do not claim the changes in the shape of the hook and blade, as they may not involve invention; but

What I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The plate O, fitting in the slot in the hook N, designed to support the pivot J, revolving with the chisel-blade, and furnished with a button, F, to secure it in its place and to stop the blade at the proper place in both directions, and with a spring, H, passing through the hole in the stud Gr, moving freely init, but incapable of being withdrawn from it, as described, and for the purposes set forth.

2. The pivot J, squared where it passes through the chisel-blade, round where it passes through the hook, threaded beyond this point,

and furnished with a nut, and having in the end a slot into which the spring H fits, with depressions on diagonally-opposite sides for keeping the spring in place, as described, and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination of the plate 0, having 30 PARKE P. FLOURNOY.

Witnesses:

THos. E. JEFFERSON, H. J. ENNIS. 

